Nantucket Cares Makes Final Push For Aid Mission In Poland

The Nantucket Cares team is wrapping up its journey to Poland, where the group of island residents who embarked on an ambitious aid mission 10 days ago continues to find ways to help Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.

Their time in Europe is winding down, but they renewed their efforts on Friday at a youth hostel in Janow Podlaski, Poland, where nearly 200 refugees were staying.

Meanwhile, a few other members of the Nantucket Cares team decided to return to the Warsaw train station where they met a little boy named Eric from Dnipro, Ukraine. He was heading to Paris with his mom and sister where they have family, and so Nantucket Cares team member Yulia Novak arranged to buy them bus tickets as well as an Uber to take them to the bus station. Nantucket Cares team leader Tom McCann bought McDonald’s hamburgers, leading to hugs and kisses for all from Eric. "These are some of the dearest moments of the aid mission," they said. "Never to be forgotten."

Over the weekend, the husband-and-wife Nantucket Cares duo Johnathan and Kasia Rodriguez visited another three refugee sites, including a school near Lubin, Poland. The school is now shut down as it is only open to the Ukrainian refugees streaming into the country. When Johnathan and Kasia visited, there were 90 people staying there, including 40 kids. "The children were super excited to receive the stuffed animals" from Nantucket, the group said.

To date, Nantucket Cares has raised more than $200,000 from island residents and businesses to help the aid mission. McCann and the Rodriguez have been joined on the aid mission by other island residents including Chris Yates, Kit Noble, Jacquie Colgan, Brian McKernan and Yuliya Novak. In addition to those headed overseas from Nantucket, there is also a group of island residents who have been working behind the scenes to help coordinate the trip, along with the fundraising effort. That include's McCann's wife Mary-Jo McCann, as well as Robin Slick, Tracy Long, Holly Finigan, Sarah Cribari, and Cheryl Fudge, among others, who are all playing different roles to help make the Nantucket Cares mission a success.